Susannah Simon
Susannah Simon (commonly known as "Suze" and "Suzie" by her mother) is the protagonist and the narrator of The Mediator series. She was born in New York City and moved to Carmel, California when she was sixteen. She is a mediator. 'Biography' Early Life Born on December 12 in New York, Suze is the only child of Helen and Peter Simon. She was born a mediator: she has the unique ability to see, touch and speak to ghosts. She saw her first ghost when she was two years old, and has kept it a secret from her friends and family since then. When she was very young, her father died from a heart attack but his ghost often pops in to check on her and her mother. It was her father (after death) who explained her the whole mediating thing, and Suze has been helping the undead move on to their afterlife ever since. Because of her mediator abilities, Suze often gets into a lot of trouble. She has been brought home by the police before for trespassing but no charges have ever been filed. She was known for skipping class and being strange at her old school in New York, and had to go to multiple therapy sessions because her mother doesn't understand what is wrong with her. ''Shadowland'' When Suze is sixteen, her mother gets remarried to Andy Ackerman and moves to California to live with him, and as a result, Suze has to move too. When Suze arrives in California, she at once loves the place. She thinks she can finally start fresh, eg trips to the mall and surfing, instead of the cemetery and tending to lost souls of her earlier life. But she has hardly settled in when her skills are put to the test. When Suze goes into her new room, she finds a ghost named Jesse de Silva sitting on her window seat. Suze at first is annoyed with the living arrangements and tells Jesse to move on or find some other house to haunt, because now she is living there. Suze is sent to the same school as her step brothers: The Junipero Serra Mission Academy. There, she meets another mediator, Father Dominic, who also happens to be a priest and the principal of her school. At the first day, she meets Heather Chambers, a ghost, leaning over her locker. Heather had shot herself during the winter break because her boyfriend broke up with her, and has been haunting the school hallways since then. She accuses Suze of stealing her locker, eventually her life, and calls her a bitch. Suze, in return, slams her into the lockers making Heather hate her even more. Father Dominic insists that Susannah should try a more friendly way to deal with the ghosts she meets. She argues with him, saying she has done this job all her life and is not going to change. He often calls her into his office to talk about how to get rid of Heather, and many other ghost related things throughout the series. At lunch, Heather makes a re-appearance and tries to kill Bryce Martinson but Suze intervenes and saves his life causing a buzz to go around the school. It also causes Bryce to ask her out on a date to say thank you, and even Kelly Prescott, the most popular, richest girl in her year, wants to befriend her. At midnight, Suze decides to go down to the Mission and put an end to it all. The idea was to talk Heather into moving on, but Suze slips up in her wording and Heather gets false hope that she might get her life back. When Suze tries to carefully explain this isn't so, Heather gets enraged and snaps off the bronze head of a statue of Junipero Serra and hurls it at Suze. But, just as the statue's head is about to collide with Suze, Jesse appears and knocks her aside. Having followed her from the house to watch over her, he helps her flee the building. Days later, Heather puts Bryce in hospital again in her attempts to kill him. By now Susannah is furious and despite Father Dominic telling Susannah not to handle it alone, she goes to the school at midnight once again. She tricks Heather into believing that she can go back to her old life but actually exorcises her. Heather soon realizes and goes on another rampage, but Suze wins and Heather is exorcised. However, not before bringing half the breezeway of the school down with her and on top of Suze. Doc and Sleepy come to her rescue and pull her from underneath the breezeway. When quizzed about how he knew Suze was at the school, the only way Doc can explain it is that a ghost woke him up and told him. Suze had warned Jesse not to come to the school as he could get exorcised with Heather, but he saved her life, again — evidently there is something there. Father Dominic is pretty mad but very pleased that Heather is gone and that all the suffering will go away. Unfortunately for Susannah, Bryce got sent to another school since Father Dominic thought this would be best for him. Therefore, deleting their very small love life that didn't even consist of one date due to Heather and her envy. Suze asks Doc to try and find something out about the house; to try and find the connection to Jesse. It's here that we learn his real name: Hector De Silva (called Jesse by his mother). He was supposed to marry Maria de Silva, his cousin back in the eighteenth hundreds, but he never showed up for the wedding. He had just disappeared and was never heard from again. Doc seems to be quite brave for his age, despite seeing the ghost and being a little afraid of him, he offers to switch rooms with her so that Suze can feel safer. Out of everyone, he knows the most about Suze's talent although she hasn't directly told him. Suze finds out she has won the election for the sophomore class vice-president with two-thirds of the class voting for her even though she's only been there a week. Her first act as vice-president is having a memorial for Heather instead of the traditional prom like dance that's usually held. ''Reunion Suze's friend Gina visits. There are four ghosts, The RLS Angels, who're haunting numerous places. Suze finds out that Michael Meducci hit the car the Angels were riding in. Furthermore, Michael thinks that Suze is in love with him. To protect Michael from the wrathful Angels, Suze pretends to be in a relationship with him.' Books in this series * ''Shadowland'' * ''Ninth Key'' * ''Reunion'' * ''Darkest Hour'' * ''Haunted'' * ''Twilight'' * Proposal, an e-novella * ''Remembrance'' 'Appearance' Suze has shoulder length chestnut brown hair and green eyes. She is said to be around 5'8" in her ankle boots which have a 3-inch heel so she'd be about 5'5". She is also slender and in shape: exercising to a kick-boxing video every night. While she may not be an exceptional beauty, she is fairly pretty and captures the attention of a few hot guys once moving to Carmel i.e. Tad. Bryce only noticed her after she saved his life, while Jesse and Paul noticed her because she was a mediator. 'Personality' Suze is a headstrong, stubborn and highly independent teenager who prefers to handle her ghostly problems with her fists. Though she's tough and oftentimes intimidating, she does have a feminine, soft side to her that not many get to see. She's a witty and intelligent individual, and is fiercely protective of the people she calls her friends and family. She has a sense of compassion for the people who try to hurt her and her loved ones though, as shown when she pitied the antagonists in many of the books. For example in Ninth Key: even though Marcus Beaumont held her at gunpoint and attempted to murder her, she told the police that she thought there was one more person inside the burning building, in hopes that they would find Marcus before he burned to death. (Heather's funeral) She's not afraid to speak her mind, as shown when she dissed Debbie for making fun of CeeCee (an albino) on her first day of school. Suze doesn't take to injustice very well and will attempt to fix what's wrong; in a sense, she possesses almost self-sacrificial saving-people-instincts. Though she's on the pretty side and is fit, she finds herself surprised to be so popular after moving to Carmel because in New York, she hadn't had much of a social life due to her mediating. (Her only friend was Gina.) She has a love for fashion and is admittedly vain about her appearances, which her mother clearly knows since she had all mirrors removed from her sight at the end of Reunion, after Suze had been thoroughly beaten by the RLS Angels. Suze is tough, strong and stubborn, but she also possesses a girlie side that frets about dates and prom. This may have been because she never had any boyfriends before moving to California, since the boys back East may have been terrified of her, and her mother often expressed her desire to see Suze with a boy. Susannah appreciates good-looking males and is not above checking them out even if she's madly in love with Jesse. Though she might be intimidating and a bit random, she has a good heart and wants the best for everyone, even at her expense. 'Relationships with Other Characters' Mentor Father Dominic Suze gets on well with Father Dom although their methods of "ghost busting" is very different. He goes for the emotional angle whereas Suze is a very hands on approach. He has dealt with many ghosts over the years and even though, just like Suze, he fell in love with one before he became a priest, he still doesn't approve of Suze and Jesse's relationship. It's obvious he cares for Suze deeply as he consoles her when Jesse "disappears". He also agrees to help Suze get him back. Love Interest Jesse de Silva After 150 years of haunting her room, he was shocked to notice that Suze could see him and even more shocked when she could touch him. It is obvious he has feelings for her from the start as he saves her or helps her on more than one occasion. He also gets jealous when he catches her kissing someone else. He's very protective of her, especially when Paul Slater comes into the picture. In return, Suze also cares for Jesse. When she "deals" with Heather, she warns Jesse not to come to the school as he could get exorcised too. She is very upset when he decides to move out, and temporarily sides with Paul and Father Dom despite his true feelings for her. In the end everything turns out perfect for them, as after Suze brings him to the future with her (by accident). Jesse becomes human after she decides to let him live, and feels he deserves the chance to have a life. In Remembrance Suze and Jesse get married. Family Peter Simon Peter Simon is Suze's father. She loves her father very much and even after his death she still sees him. In fact she sees him more when he is dead as "he has nothing better to do". He won't move on no matter how hard Suze pushes. Often, he pops up to check up on her and her mother. He also disapproves the "Jesse and Suze" relationship. However, ironically, he only moves on after he sees them dancing together at her prom, since this is the first time since his death he's seen her "truly happy". Helen Ackerman Suze has a good relationship with her mother: When she marries Andy, Suze agrees to move to California even if it means leaving her life and her best friend behind. Her mother doesn't know about her daughter being a mediator, and hence blames her father's death for Suze not leading a normal teenager's life. Andy Ackerman She likes her new step-father, but again resents him a bit for causing her to leave New York. She forgives him since he makes her mother very happy. He's very nice to his children, and almost immediately treats Suze as his own. Jake Ackerman Nicknamed Sleepy by Suze, Jake Ackerman is the eldest of Andy's three sons. He is given his name due to his busy schedule. Going to school/college during the day and working for most of the night leaves him sleep deprived. So much so, that when Suze first meets him she thinks he does drugs. He very rarely speaks unless spoken to directly or it's a subject that deeply interests him. Bradley Ackerman Nicknamed Dopey by Suze and is the same age as her until Twilight. He's scared of Suze because whilst no one other than his father will stand up to him, Suze never hesitates to beat him up -- whether it be a full blown punch in the gut or just stringing him up by the hairs at the bottom of his neck. Plus, she's not afraid to do it in public either. David Ackerman Nicknamed Doc by Suze and is the youngest Ackerman child. Out of all the Ackerman boys Suze is closest to Doc. He knows most about her secret and has seen Jesse and helped Suze find him. He is concerned about Suze as he offers to switch rooms with her as he knew something was "creepy" in it. Although she refused the offer, she greatly respects him for it. Friends Cee Cee Webb & Adam McTavish Suze's new friends from Carmel. CeeCee and Adam have been friends forever which is about as long as CeeCee's crush for him has lasted, even though he fails to acknowledge it and lusts after Suze when he first meets her. CeeCee also knows a little about Suze's secret and Jesse. Jack Slater Suze meets him when she gets a job as a baby-sitter for the summer. She forces him to go outside and this is when he announces he can see dead people. Suze comforts him with the fact that she can see them too and they are both mediators. Maria De Silva tricks him into exorcising Jesse, but he doesn't realize how important he is to Suze and feels very bad after he realizes it was a mistake. He helps Suze get Jesse back to make amends. Gina Augustin She's Suze's one and only friend (besties) back in Brooklyn. Suze mentions her throughout the series, though she only shows up in Reunion since her school is on Spring Break. After they spend time together at the beach (beginning), she enrolls as a student for the rest of the book. Rivals Kelly Prescott & Debbie Mancuso Suze is only friends with them because she has to work with Kelly as her vice-president or second in command. Both girls are evidently afraid of Suze as on the first day of her new school she threatens to break Debbie's fingers for insulting CeeCee. Paul Slater Ever since he meets Suze, he becomes obsessed about her. He has a very big crush on her and pursues her constantly for dates. Paul even transfers to Suze's school so he can see more of her and can get her to like him. However, Suze does not like him. He uses the fact that he knows more about shifters (the "actual" name), and offers to help her develop her powers so he can spend time with her. He goes to great measures to try to stop Suze from falling for Jesse. He tries to go back in time to stop Jesse from dying and therefore Suze will never know him in the future, however the plan backfires. Kelly Prescott has a crush on him and he uses her to get at Suze, but most of the time it doesn't work. In the end, after Suze brings Jesse to life, he seems to have "lain off" Suze, turning to Kelly Prescott (reluctantly) instead. 'Quotes' "When you are in love, you don't quibble over things like whether or not the guy has a heartbeat." "I ask you, do I have a big sign on my forehead that says Maid Service? Why am I always the one who has to tidy up other people's messes?" "Two wrongs do not make a right– and three most definitely don't." "In my book, there are two kinds of people. Good ones and bad ones. As far as I was concerned, there wasn't any single good person to be found." Category:Characters Category:Main Characters Category:Females Category:Mediators